Chapter 304: Ch 303: Slightly Better News

"Is he gone yet?"

Leon opened his eyes as soon as he sensed that the outsider was gone. He let out a grunt as he pushed himself to sit back up.

Kael tried to push him back down at first, but then gave up and allowed Leon to do whatever he wanted.

"Finally back with us? How is your body feeling right now?"

Elena asked without a hint of delicacy in her voice. It was clear that she did not care about what happened to Leon. But she had to be nice to him because she needed him.

They had not been like this toward each other the last time Kael saw them.

’Did...something happen between the time I was not with them? Should I even bother to ask?’

After thinking about it a little, the outcome was clear—this was their problem. It was not Noah’s place to risk his neck for them.

"So, can one of you explain what is going on here?"

Kael finally asked, and Leon looked uneasy but decided to answer his question.

"Well, after you killed yourself, we finally got peace...for about a week. Some people—"

"Just take their names. Is there any point in protecting those two anymore?"

"—well, some people—"

"Named Seraphina and Lyra!"

"—Ehm, some people decided that they were not going to accept your sacrifice and started to look for ways to bring you back. But without the corruption, they did not stand a chance. So they used some unethical ways—"

"Tsk, for God’s sake, stop protecting them. If you won’t tell Kael what happened, then I will. Seraphina and Lyra decided that they were not going to accept your death, so they invoked world magic and even got Iris involved. They burned down the elf tree and other sacred treasures to fulfil the cost of an impossible wish. I told them it was messed up, but they did not listen..."

Kael blinked at Elena’s angry expression. He had never seen her this agitated before, but it made sense if he took into account the circumstances of what was happening.

"I see. So that’s what happened."

Kael sighed, and Elena’s anger shifted its target to him next.

"I see? Is that all you are going to say about this? Kael, you...nevermind. This is not even your fault beyond dying. And knowing you, you might die again, leaving another mess I cannot deal with."

Elena sounded far too grown-up at that moment, and Kael felt a bitter taste in his mouth as he looked at her.

Thankfully, Leon was there to distract him from his thoughts.

"Anyway, that is the short of things. You can guess what that world magic resulted in."

Since Kael had paid the price of his own world magic with his existence, he was not supposed to exist. But since he existed, it could only mean one thing—the corruption was back.

His existence was tied to the corruption, so it was a direct result of his own coming back. It was also why it had been able to follow him...most likely.

Kael remained silent for a while as he tried to process everything he had just been told. The more he thought about it, the more the pieces started to fall into place, and none of them were particularly comforting.

"So, let me get this straight. Seraphina, Iris, and Lyra destroyed sacred treasures, burned down an elf tree, and dragged Iris into all of this just to bring me back?"

Leon nodded reluctantly.

"That is the simplified version, yes."

"And you thought this was a good idea?"

"I never said I thought it was a good idea. We also tried to stop them—!"

"But they still succeeded, which means you did not try hard enough."

Leon immediately looked away, refusing to meet Kael’s eyes.

Elena, meanwhile, crossed her arms and looked annoyed.

"Do not blame us too much. There was only so much he could do when Seraphina and Lyra had already made up their minds."

Kael rubbed his temples.

"That somehow makes me feel worse."

He had expected them to mourn him after his death. That was normal. What he had not expected was for them to completely disregard the consequences of his sacrifice and tear apart the world just to bring him back.

And judging from what Leon had said, they had succeeded.

At least partially.

Kael looked toward the greenhouse door.

"If the corruption really returned because of me, then we need to figure out how to deal with it before it gets any worse. I doubt dying will solve our problems."

Neither Leon nor Elena disagreed with him, which hinted at how bad the situation was at this moment.

"But on the plus side, we have an advantage. This world is lacking the mana that is needed for the corruption to stay afloat. If we make use of it and drag those three out of the corruption’s hold, we will be able to resolve the situation...potentially..."

That was wishful thinking on their part, but it did make a lot of sense. Kael had thought that the corruption was acting weird, but this could be the reason.

Still...

"How could those three cause such a mess? Were they blind?"

"Blind? They might as well be. But this is something we can ask them once we catch hold of them. So, how much are we telling the people of this time?"

Kael wanted to say nothing, but that wouldn’t work.

In the end, they settled on telling Tyson the basics of what was happening and nothing else. There was no point in worrying him too much, anyway.

Tyson looked exhausted when he returned to the greenhouse.

"Please tell me that you have good news for me."

He begged in a low voice, clearly hoping that Kael could help him out. Kael showed him a smile.

"Don’t worry. I do have slightly better news for you. We have a potential way to get rid of the corruption from this world...no, don’t look so excited. It is not as easy as it sounds."